2011-2012 Block of the Month Quilt

Finally, three months later than I'd hoped to have it finished, here it is. My block of the month quilt from Quilts, Etc., our local quilt shop. If you have your top pieced by the first class of the next year (last September) they let you take the next year for free. I had the top pieced, barely. But quilting opportunities have been few and far between. In addition, I decided to practice more of my free-motion straight line quilting and stitching in the ditch. Or somewhere around the ditch. Or, as Nicole at Sister's Choice Quilts says, "quilting in the vicinity of the ditch." So the quilting was slow, to say the least.

I was afraid by the end I would hate the quilt. But I washed and dried it, and it got all nice and puckery and hides most of my strange stitching meanderings away from the ditch. Now that I don't have my face 12 inches away from it constantly I like it again. 

A few of my sashings, ready to be trimmed. Doing the math for those was not much fun!

Size: 54 inches by 78 inches

October

The month of October is almost over. It has a lot of wonderful things I like about it:

Many birthdays

(My grandson's birthday,

My son-in-law's birthday,

My mom's birthday,

My father-in-law's birthday,

Some brothers-in-law's birthdays

A few nieces and nephews' birthdays,

Some friends' birthdays)

Autumn!

Crisp weather

and

Skittering leaves

to name just a few. 

One thing I'm not crazy about is that holiday attached to the very last day of the month. I should clarify--I don't like thinking of/making/wearing costumes. I don't like scary things. I seriously don't like a holiday that glorifies spiders.

But I do love candy pumpkins. I know, they're no good for you. But they're good for my mood, and I think just a little bit good for my soul. The best place to buy them is at the BYU Bookstore candy counter. Oh my, they are always so fresh there. Every year I buy some. I haven't made it there yet this year, and I don't know if I will. Now that is a reason to say BOO! or maybe boohoo. 

I must tell you though, that something sweeter came my way last week. My three grandchildren in Wendover had some candy pumpkins. My daughter told them how much I love those pumpkins. They each saved a pumpkin for me. They held those pumpkins in their warm little hands for the entire two and a half hour drive to my house. They held them out to me with a big smile, just knowing it was a special treat for me. Special indeed. I don't know if I've ever tasted sweeter candy pumpkins. And I can tell you this: I've sure tried a lot of them trying to find the best.

Now that's a part of October to celebrate.

How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen

Clayton Christensen teaches at the Harvard Business School. He spends the last class of the semester discussing his students' life strategies, based on business principles and theories they learned in class during the semester.

This book is essentially the written version of that last class period.  Christensen opens each chapter with one or more examples of business theory and principles as demonstrated with actual companies. He then relates that particular example to a life strategy. The life strategies, or goals, are divided into three sections: Finding Happiness in Your Career, Finding Happiness in Your Relationships, and Staying out of Jail (Integrity).

Every man that I know who has read this book really liked it. Most of the women I know said they liked it, but it wasn't consistently compelling. I think this particular format resonates with men, who spend most of their lives in the business world, in one way or another. I will admit the women I spoke to are currently stay at home moms, like me. (I guess I'm a stay at home grandma).

I did get bogged down in a couple of the business sections. Others of them I really liked. Also, I felt like some of the life goals have already occurred in my life. Some of them I feel fairly successful about, and some of them rather ambiguous. Yet I feel like I have a lot of life left, and it would be worth while to sit down and set some strategies for the rest of my life.

This was a much more cerebral book than a few that I've read lately. It was a nice change. I look forward to the discussion in my book group next week.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

All right, I must admit that I find most of Sophie Kinsella's books fun. And anxiety ridden.  Her protagonists always make me anxious.

The one drawback to her books is the use of the F-word. I hate that word, and I hear that in England it isn't taken as negatively as it is here, but nevertheless, it bothers me. If her books eliminated that word, I'd read more of them.

The same girl that recommended I've Got Your Number by Kinsella recommended this book. I think she liked this one better. I liked I've Got Your Number better.

Great literature? Heavens no. Great diversion? For me, yes.

I read it all in about three hours Thursday night in my hotel room in Jackson.

Jackson, Wyoming ~ October 2012 ~ Day 3

Friday saw us heading home. We checked the weather report Thursday night and saw that thunderstorms were expected at Bear Lake around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. We planned to be well past there by then, but decided to get up and go in the morning just to make sure.

We alternated chasing the clouds and being followed by the clouds, depending on where we were on our route. It was quite cold in the morning - 30 degrees as we left Jackson. But it warmed up to the mid-fifties a couple of hours later. It is good to have warm gear. 

Once we hit Bear Lake we took a different route home - through the canyon between Bear Lake and Logan. Oh my, I believe it is the most beautiful canyon I've ever driven through. No pictures. It was too cold to mess with the camera. Take my word for it. Unbelievable. Red, orange, yellow, and evergreens everywhere. Stunning. Once again, almost no one but us and a few cattle herders and a couple of hunters around. 

We saw threatening clouds looming ahead as we hit our last stretch toward home, but only had rain for the last 30 minutes of the ride. Once again, good gear makes it all okay. We got home and unloaded everything and the wind and rain kicked up like crazy. We made it home just in time. I can't believe we had such stellar weather that whole time until the very end.

What a great time we had!

Day 3 route

Another classic Jackson shot. Ray insisted on these.

Ray

Jackson, Wyoming ~ October 2012 ~ Day 2

We slept in Thursday morning and meandered over to The Bunnery for breakfast. They have a great bakery and restaurant. One of their specialties is their OSM products (Oatmeal, Sunflower, Millet). I had their OSM oatmeal, and Ray had some of their granola with greek yogurt. All very good. Then we walked around town and in and out of several stores. The only purchase we made was a stuff sack for Ray's down jacket. It was so warm we didn't even need a coat.

There was a quilt show going on. The quilts were all displayed in various store windows. There were some stunning quilts and I enjoyed seeing as many as I did. 

About noon we left to go on a drive through Grand Teton National Park. I'd like to come back another time when we have longer to stay. One beauty of being there off season is that we saw very few cars or people the whole time. We drove to Wilson, then through Moose. There was a moose out in the water, it looked just like a postcard. We went into the park and rode up to Jenny Lake where we stopped and walked around a bit. There is a pretty waterfall not too far from there I was told (Ray's been there). But I was also told to take bear spray if we walked to the waterfall. I opted out of that one. 

From Jenny Lake we rode up to Jackson Lake, taking the Signal Mountain Road scenic drive along the way.  I loved it. Then we took our time coming back to Jackson. We didn't make it up to Yellowstone this time. We'll do that on another trip.

We had dinner at Mountain High Pizza Pie. The pizza was fine, and filling. We gave half our pizza to some other people eating there. They were happy to take it, and we would have had to throw it away otherwise. 

Day Two route through Grand Teton National Park. Actually we did not go over to Moran. I could not get the map app to take us back from Jackson Lake to the park gates then down Hwy 89. 

Diane and Ray - classic Jackson photo shot.

Diane

Ray

Diane and Ray with Jenny Lake in the background

The view from the top of Signal Mountain Road looking over the Snake River

Jackson, Wyoming ~ October 2012 ~ Day 1

Ray and I decided to take a short trip to Jackson, Wyoming. I've never been there before. Ray's been there with the scouts on a river trip. We got a groupon for a hotel that had to be used between October 1 and January 31. We opted for this week, hoping for good weather so we could take the motorcycle. If the weather was bad we would have driven the car.

We left on Wednesday. We checked weather reports for the towns along our route, and all looked clear so we took the motorcycle. We had several layers of clothing to add and subtract, depending on how cold it got. Wednesday was beautiful. The skies were clear, and I loved the entire drive. Bear Lake was as lovely as usual. I've never been through Star Valley Wyoming--it was so pretty. And I never met a view of the Snake River that I didn't like. 

We drove through a lot of open range. There were cattle in the road (couldn't get the camera in time) and sheep (same camera issue). One sheep kept us guessing which direction he would go right up until we passed him. I could have almost touched him as we went by.

We arrived in Jackson at dinner time. We changed into regular clothes and went to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant called Nani's Cucina Italiana. I had a linguine dish with a cream sauce that had lemon and figs. So good! After that we walked around the main square and looked in a few store windows. Then to bed. We were tired.

Following are several pictures. All the shots from the road are taken with my little point and shoot digital camera. I wear it around my neck and can take pictures when I see something fun. Of course, it's always a gamble whether the picture will be in focus or not. I can now operate the camera wearing gloves or mittens. It's great. The only drawback are there are no people in the pictures--a cardinal rule for me that has to be broken when taking pictures from the motorcycle.

Our route

I loved seeing these few red trees on the hills outside of Huntsville, UT

We could see this fire just over the hill from Bear Lake.

Bear Lake

Montpelier, ID. Ray's grandpa grew up on Bear Lake and wintered in Montpelier so he could go to school. 

Here is an unusual church building in Montpelier. The street side half of it is round. 

Ray, at a rest stop in Wyoming. I had to get off and stretch my legs. We have a picture of all our children at a similar sign in another rest stop in Wyoming taken about 11 years ago.

The Snake River, on our last leg to Jackson. The scenery here was breath taking. 

Fall Foliage

 Most nights this summer we've gone for a ride on the motorcycle up one of the nearby canyons. I learned my lesson after missing a shot at taking a picture of the moose we saw and now I take my little point and shoot digital camera with me. I should call it my hit and miss digital camera, because I have no idea while we're riding if I really got a decent picture or not.

Here are a few shots of fall color I managed to capture:

This is one of the Cottonwood Canyons. Big or Little, taken one evening about two weeks ago.

 

This picture is one of the misses - it's more like a bad van Gogh painting. Really bad.

Another miss - more like a Monet. At least you can tell what it's supposed to be a picture of.

Here are some fun shots I took the last weekend in September. We took an early morning ride through the Alpine Loop from Highland to Aspen Grove and Provo Canyon. Most of these are of what I consider the back side of Mt. Timpanogos. I guess it depends on which side you usually see, whether it would be the back or front. For me it's the back. 

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Sigh. Oh, I liked this book! It's a nice, long tale that you almost hate to see end.

This story of Ciro and Enza, and how their lives intertwine over the years is a delight. I loved learning about Italy, and New York City at the turn of the century. It was interesting to get a glimpse of what it was like to be an immigrant to the United States.

I enjoy Trigiani's works, and this ranks right up there as one of the best. I highly recommend it.

Just what I needed.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

Caleb's Crossing takes place on what is now known as Martha's Vineyard around 1660. It is the story of Bethia Mayfield and Caleb,a Wampanoag native who eventually attends Harvard College. Bethia is a very intelligent young woman, and fights against the prejudice of that time of educated women. Caleb is torn between his native culture and that of the white people, who have taken over much of the land.

It's an intriguing story. Brooks writes very well. She knows her stuff, and it was great to learn so much about that era in our country's development.

I should leave the review right there. It's accurate, and I think fair. But I can't help myself. I have a bias against Geraldine Brooks. It may be petty to the real world, but it's a reality to me. I couldn't stand her book March. It too was well written, but I felt it was a desecration of my favorite book, Little Women. Sorry, but that's how I feel. It has tainted my view of her books.

Also, what is Brooks' obsession with throwing in a gratuitous sex scene (not at all graphic) in each of these books that is inconsistent with the characters and setting?

The Island by Victoria Hislop

I was madly trying to choose a book to review/share with my book group. In over 20 years of being in book groups, I have never had this problem. I'm not getting as much reading in these days, and that has contributed to the issue.

I received several suggestions, and read some of them. This one seemed like a good candidate, so I gave it a try also. The Island is about a leper colony on a small island off the coast of Crete, and the village just across from it on Crete itself.  The story highlights one family in particular, although you get to know many people in the community.

I liked the story, and found it interesting to learn a little more about the disease of leprosy.

The author, Victoria Hislop, is a journalist. I think it shows in this novel. It's hard to describe but mostly the story skims the surface, and doesn't really delve into the heart of the characters. There are glimpses that I would have liked a deeper look into. Ultimately that's why I didn't choose to do this book for book group. Although I liked it, the writing didn't make my heart sing.

September in Seattle

Yes. It's been a month since we were there. We had such a good time! We ate at some of our old favorite haunts, which I already wrote about, and spent time with our friends. But best of all we had time with Debra and her family.

We stayed at home and played. We went to the park and played. We went for drives. It was all great.

We took a lot of pictures. Here is the gallery, all in one post:

The most stunning view of Mt. Rainier we've ever had flying in. I took this through the plane window.

Jonathan and Debra

Ray, Madeleine, and Diane. Ray is carefully taking care of Diane's blankie. In his rear pocket.

The girls drew pictures of all of us with sidewalk chalk on their backyard fence. This is Diane concentrating hard.

Madeleine, drawing a picture of all of us. You can see Randy on the left, then Debra, then Madeleine, the Diane and Jonathan. She added me and Ray afterward.

Diane

Madeleine. The girl rides around that cul de sac like a demon. 

Sweet Jonathan

Madeleine and Diane

Madeleine at St. Edward's State Park. They've added this play area since we moved. It's terrific.

Ray, giving the girls a big push on the swings. Still at St. Ed's

Madeleine and Diane. The weather was glorious while we were there. The park was a perfect place to be.

Diane at St. Ed's.

Sunday we went for a drive to Sand Point and got out for a walk. It was chilly. Jonathan's all bundled up.

Throwing rocks into Lake Washington at Sand Point

I could not get enough time holding this boy. He is growing so fast.

Diane, me, Ray, Madeleine. Pure heaven.

The weekend flew by much too fast.